Below is the reply I got from Walmart about my earlier post concerning the Shank family. Their reply astonishes me in their unwillingness to “get it” and continued stubborn clinging to their handbook.My reply to this letter follows. It is my desire and wish that others will follow suit and continue to hound Walmart with the humane cost of their actions.….
From: cstreply@wal-mart.com
Subject: Response from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Ref #000000019191258)
Date: March 31, 2008 10:31:17 AM PDT
Thank you for your message.Dear Randy,When our associates, or their family members, suffer injuries or medical conditions which are the responsibility of others, our plan steps in to pay covered medical expenses so the associate and their families don’t have to worry about their bills or have large out-of-pocket expenses. It is only after the associate or their family member receives a monetary payment from the responsible party, that our health plan becomes entitled to reimbursement. While the Shanks case involves a tragic situation, our responsibility is to follow the provisions of the plan which governs the health benefits of our associates. These plans are funded by associate premiums and company contributions. Any money recovered is returned to the health plan, not to the business. This is done out of fairness to everyone who contributes and benefits from the plan. The Supreme Court’s denial of the Shank appeal concludes all litigation. The Court ruled that the benefit plan was entitled to the funds in the trust account, which was about $280,000, which is all it requested.Thank you,
Wal-Mart Customer Relations
For further correspondence regarding this issue, please reply to this email.
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My reply April 14 2008
Subject: Re: Response from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Ref #000000019191258)
From: overflow@papabear.biz
Date: April 14, 2008 2:06:58 PM PDT
To: cstreply@wal-mart.com
As I stated in my earlier email, you were well within your right to collect the funds as you stated below. This still does not make it the right thing to do. If you would have taken the time to read my example of how Microsoft handled my situation you would have seen how it is in your companies best interest to sometimes do the right thing, meaning the humane thing… not necessarily the right thing according to your HR guidelines. had Microsoft taken your attitude toward me, I would have lost my home and everything I hold dear. As a result of how they treated me, my story has had a direct impact on how people who know me and people who have heard my story feel about Microsoft and its products. You can’t buy that kind of advertising. Your approach however, has bought you worldwide scorn, and yet you cling to your handbook. That I find simply astonishing. It is my wish that you should never have to face a catastrophic illness as I and the Shank family have done. Should you find yourself in that situation, I hope you find friends and coworkers willing to support you as my company did me, and not as Walmart has done. The negative press on this issue will continue to haunt you. If you can not figure that out, then I truly feel sorry for you indeed.I will post your reply as well as my response here to my blog. I’m sure my readers will be interested in what you’ve had to say. I can say this, my readers unanimously agree with me that you have been completely blindsided by your rules and ignored your heart. You may be interested to know that my entire family, who tended to go to their local walmarts on a daily basis, no longer patronize your store because of this situation. This would include my siblings, cousins, and others directly associated with my family including my parents and their friends. They feel so strongly over this issue that they are going far out of their way to avoid your stores. In my case, I no longer park my RV at your store at night, and that means I no longer enter those stores on my vacations to buy things I need. I will take my business elsewhere. I would venture a guess that your attitude has cost your company far more than the quarter of a million you insist on taking from the Shank family. I doubt your company will ever recover from the negativity this has caused. You still can turn this around but its going to require “thinking out of the box” and going a little further than your guidelines suggest.
Randy Reeves, former Walmart customer.
Tags: corporate greed, Health insurance, illness, right, settlement, Shank, sick, take back, wal-mart, Walmart, wrong
